Atlanta bags order worth Rs. 10435.1mn

October 31, 2011

Atlanta has registered a cumulative revenue growth of 30% during the last two years.

Mumbai-based infrastructure and real estate firm, Atlanta in consortium has bagged around Rs. 10435.1mn order from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the flagship road building programme of the Ministry of Transport and Highways. Atlanta along with a Joint Venture partner Essar Projects has bagged the order for four laning of Lucknow-Sultanpur road widening project of around 126 kilometres in Uttar Pradesh. The project has a concession period of 23 years, which includes two-and-a-half years of construction time and is based on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operate & Transfer (DBFOT) basis. The debt equity ratio is proposed at 3:1

“We expect to bag additional road project orders worth Rs. 20bn in this fiscal,” said Rajhoo Bbarot, MD, Atlanta. He declined to divulge details of the fund raising.
A total of 34 players, including Gammon Infrastructure, L& T Infrastructure, HCC Concessions and IL&FS Transportation, had shown interest in the project.

Atlanta has registered a cumulative revenue growth of 30% during the last two years. The current order book of Rs. 1,950 crore is seven times its FY11 sales, while the average execution cycle is three years. This gives good visibility of revenues for the coming three years.

Atlanta recently secured an order of 117 km Mohania-Ara for Rs. 9170mn in Bihar and another one in Punjab for Rs. 2200mn. The Bihar project entails four laning of Mohania -Ara section on National Highway 30 under the public-private-partnership mode for a length of 117 km.

Currently Atlanta has two operational road projects. First is Mumbra bypass on NH 4 and the second is Nagpur Kondhali on NH 6. Other than this it is pre-qualified for projects worth Rs. 400bn. So far, the company has done 225 lane kms and 600 lane Kms are in pipeline.

Atlanta’s focus areas for EPC business comprises highways, bridges, railways, and other urban infrastructure projects across the country. It has over 3 decades of experience in Engineering, procurement, Construction (EPC) and Realty.

Atlanta is credited with successfully commissioning India’s first greenfield BOT project on National Highways – Udaipur Bypass within the record time of 18 months as against stipulated time of 36 months. Atlanta has already developed three projects on DBFOT basis on Public private partnership basis.

Source: www.indiainfoline.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Atlanta, Essar Projects, International, NHAI

Highway investment 11% short of XIth Plan estimate

October 31, 2011

Investments in road and bridges during the XIth Five Year Plan would be 11% lower than the initial estimates on account of poor performance by the private and central sectors, according to the Planning Commission.

Railways is also set to miss the investment target during the ongoing Plan.

The revised projected investment in roads is Rs278,658 crore as compared with the initial projections of Rs314,152 crore.

“The investment from the Centre is expected to decline due to award of lower than projected road projects by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) during the first three years of the Plan,” said a plan panel report.

In the Railways, the investment projection has been lowered to Rs200,802 crore as against the initial aim Rs258,439 crore.

“The investment by the private sector is also expected to go down due to award of a lower number of BOT (build, operate and transfer) projects in the first three years of the XIth Plan,” the report said.

A senior NHAI official attributed the development to economic recession in 2008-09.

“Highway tendering came to a grinding halt during that year as bidders turned away following a funding freeze. Out of the plans to award 45 highway projects worth around Rs60,000 crore during that year, the authority could barely manage to award eight,” the official said.

In case of Railways, the basic tenets of the public-private partnership have not been yet decided, which is delaying the mega locomotive and coach factory projects.

The downward revision of investments projections in the Railways is in both central and the private sectors.

“As per latest estimates, only Rs8,316 crore is expected by way of private investment, which is only 16.5% of original projections,” said the report.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Highway, NHAI

Govt approves Rs 1,835 cr road projects in AP

October 31, 2011

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday approved two projects of widening of National Highways in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa entailing a total investment of about Rs 1,835 crore under its flagship road building programme NHDP.

The Cabinet Committee of Infrastructure (CCI) on tuesday approved projects for four laning of Vijayawada-Machlipatnam section of NH 9 in Andhra Pradesh and four/two laning of Birmitrapur-Barkote section on NH 23 in Orissa under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) phase IV-A, an official release said.

“The total estimated cost of the project (Andhra Pradesh) is Rs 736 crore. The total estimated cost of the project (Orissa) is Rs 1,098.90 crore,” the release said.

On land acquisition, resettlement, rehabilitation and pre-construction, Rs 130 crore and Rs 320.75 crore will be spent on Andhra Pradesh and Orissa projects, respectively.

Both the projects will be built on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis in BOT (Toll) mode of delivery.

“The total length of the project is 64.611 km. The concession period is 20 years, including construction period of 24 months,” the statement said about the Andhra Pradesh project, located in Krishna district.

“The project will reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Vijayawada and Machilipatnam. It will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities,” it added.

On the Orissa project, which is based in Sundargah and Deogarh districts, it said the concession period is 23 years including construction period of 30 months for 125.61 km scheme.

“The project will reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Birmitrapur-Barkote. It will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities,” it said.

Source: zeenews.india.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Andhra Pradesh, NHAI, Orissa

City welcomes decision to halt toll projects

October 31, 2011

CA_tooooolllls0 STAFF REPORTER

THE City of Cape Town has welcomed the news that South African National Road Agency Limited’s (Sanral) tolling project to implement tolls on the N1 and N2 has been halted.

Sanral was planning to establish a R10 billion toll project that would include a 105km stretch on the N1 between the Old Oak Interchange and Sandhills, and a 70km section of the N2, from west of Swartklip to Bot River.

In July, the city declared an inter-governmental dispute with Sanral and more recently launched an application in the Cape High Court for an interdict to stop the project, which included two new tunnels.

Brett Herron, Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Roads and Stormwater said the city welcomed the decision by the National Department of Transport to halt the projects until further investigation.

“Our application to the High Court is premised on our view that the process followed by Sanral, which eventually led to the N1 and N2 being declared toll roads, was fundamentally flawed and illegal.”

He said the city has been concerned about the impact the projects, which have not been fully investigated, would have on the economy and residents.

“The imposition of the toll roads would amount to unfair discrimination against poor and largely black communities who would be disproportionately affected,” said Herron.

If Sanral had its way the N1 and the N2 would be tolled from the R300, the N1 stretch would end just after Worcester, the N2 toll road at Bot River. The Huguenot Tunnel would be taken into the tolling plan.

“It appears from the statement issued by the National Minister of Transport that he shares our concerns with regards to the socio-economic impacts and that he is seeking to address one of our procedural concerns, (which is) lack of proper consultation with the city and the public.

“We welcome the department’s intervention.’’

Herron said other legal issues, which were not addressed by the minister, had also been raised.

Source: www.iol.co.za

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under International, South Africa

New Land Acquisition bill to raise land acquisition costs for road projects

October 31, 2011

Original The new Land Acquisition and Rehbliltation Bill is expected to increase the government’s spending on land acquisition by up to 30 per cent from the current level of about 8-11 per cent as the road projects are not exempt from the provisions under the resettlement and rehabilitaion part of the Bill.

NHAI spends about Rs. 25,000 crore every year on land acquisition and other related activities.

Land acquisition has always been a major roadblock for road projects. As per norms, NHAI has to acquire 80 per cent of the land for the private developers building roads under the Build operate transfer or BOT route. Most of the delays in road projects have been primarily due to land problems and the new Bill, sources say, is expected to make things worse for the road sector.

Hassles in acquiring land for road projects have been the reason for delays in 30 per cent of road projects. In 2010, after aggressive measures by the then road Minister Kamal Nath, NHAI had managed to acquire 8,533 hectares against 6,000 hectares acquired in 2009. But clearly 2011 is expected to be a bad year.

In fact, NHAI’s land acquisition record has been abysmal in states like Goa, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Haryana with barely an inch of land being acquired in Goa for road projects. With the new Bill soon becoming an Act, it could be a tough road ahead for the road sector.

Source: profit.ndtv.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under NHAI, Road

Experts push PPP to fund GCC transport solutions

October 24, 2011

CPCS vice president Sean McDonnell speaks on ‘Investment opportunities and PPP in the transport and railway sectors’ as Yusuf Saeed, Anil Bhandari, Khalid al-Ghalib and Moazzam Mekkan look on. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

GCC states have been urged to avail of an array of options to finance their massive rail, port and road infrastructure projects.
At a session on ‘Investment opportunities and private-public-partnership (PPP) in the transport and railway sectors’, experts asked government planners and decision makers to identify potential investment opportunities for the private sector.
The speakers also deliberated on the roles to be played by financial institutions and multilateral development institutions, which they said could co-ordinate various segments involved in developing major projects.
Speaking on the modes for financing projects, some of the speakers also made presentations on the successful PPP projects, implemented in different countries.
Initiating the discussions, International Financial Corporation (Dubai) Infrastructure Advisory Services manager Moazzam Mekan said there is a great level of misunderstanding among governments and people on the issue of private participation in the execution of mega projects.
The senior infrastructure policy professional said private participation in projects simply means transferring risk element in a major ‘build operate and transfer’ (BOT) project by government to private entrepreneurs.
“No private investor willingly bears the risk to get involved in the development of a public utility unless he is convinced of reasonably good returns on its completion,” said Mekan. This could perhaps be one of the main reasons why PPP projects are still in the infancy even today in most GCC states, he said.
For successful implementation of PPP projects, the speaker argued for the participation of different players at different levels of building and operating.
The GCC states has at hand rail, port and other transport infrastructure projects worth $142bn to be executed over the next decade, said Qatar National Bank senior manager (syndications) Yusuf Saeed.
Of these, the GCC railway network alone would cost approximately $25bn and the first phase of Qatar’s Metro and GCC line network would cost approximately $35bn.
Financing options that Saeed mooted included deficit financing, direct borrowing, GCC syndicated lending, GCC bonds, equity reserves, project specific borrowing, government grants, joint ventures, and private participation.
The QNB official said along with the international banks, inquiries could also be entertained from the regional banks and local banks as well depending on the size of the projects. The speaker also felt that infrastructure funds have a major role to play in coming years.
National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia senior executive vice president (Corporate Banking) Alsharif Khalid al-Ghalib shared the concerns of Mekan on the issue of PPP as a mode of financing the key projects.
Insisting that the entire GCC is fast emerging as the global transport hub with a series of economic activities, the speaker said the six GCC states together have close to 30mn vehicles on their roads.
Highlighting the necessity of strengthening the public transport network through the GCC rail and building of major highways, al-Ghalib said PPP is still to make any headway in the region.
He cited the formation of government-backed financial bodies on the lines of the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to finance major transport projects.
The official said there is so much for the GCC to learn from the successful PPP experiences in Europe in recent years, especially in the transport sector. Out of the over 30bn PPP investments made by the European companies in 2008, more than 20% were to strengthen the transportation networks elsewhere, he said.
Canada Pacific Consulting Services vice president Sean McDonnel and Dubai-based Ab International CEO Anil Bhandari made presentations on the PPP projects in railway in Canada, Hong Kong and Nigeria.
The success of the railway projects in Nigeria including the three-lane mass transit metro in Abuja showed how the best could be derived from the available choices and resources, said Bhandari.
The $3.3bn 1315 Lagos-Kano line is one of such successful examples of the private participation that GCC states could try to emulate, said Bhandari.
McDonnel said the Canada Pacific Railway Company is carrying approximately 1.6bn passengers a year in their Hong Kong Metro project and the stakeholders are getting sufficient returns on their investments, said McDonnel.

Source: www.gulf-times.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Road, Transport

CDWP approves 79 projects costing Rs343b

October 24, 2011

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) in a meeting held here considered and approved seventy-nine projects costing Rs343.470 billion including a foreign aid component of Rs134 billion.

Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque chaired the meeting of the CDWP, which was also attended by the sponsoring agencies and the representatives from Provincial Governments and Special Areas.

The CDWP after due deliberation approved / recommended 79 projects costing Rs343.470 billion including Foreign Aid component of Rs134.986 billion. Of the 79 projects, 60 projects were related to Infrastructure Sector costing Rs317.863 billion, 17 projects of Social Sector costing Rs22.509 billion and 02 projects in other Sectors costing Rs3.098 billion were approved.

The CDWP is authorized to approve projects costing up to Rs1.0 billion. However, 35 projects, each costing over Rs1.0 billion, were recommended to Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) for consideration/approval, says a statement issued by the Planning Commission here.

After 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the Federal Government has focused on implementation of Infrastructure projects, being its primary responsibility. In this sector, important projects of Transport & Communication like “Hasanabdal — Havelian — Mansehra Expressway E-35 (110 KM) ADB” costing Rs 46.8 billion, “Lowari Tunnel and Access Roads Project Modified as a Road Tunnel” costing Rs18.1 billion, “Rehabilitation of Track on Lahore — Lalamusa Section with New Signalling and Telecommunication System” costing Rs18.0 billion, “Modernisation of Gaddani Ship Breaking & Recycling Industry and Development of Allied Facilities at Gaddani” costing Rs11.4 billion and “Improvement and Widening of N-45 (141 KM) Section-1: Chakdara — Timargara Section — 2: Akhagram — Dir Section — 3: Kalkatak -Chitral” costing Rs9.2 billion were considered / recommended by the CDWP.

Similarly, addressing energy crisis the country, important projects like “Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project (90 per cent by World Bank 10 per cent by sponsors own sources)” costing Rs79.488 billion, “Detail Design and Construction of Matiltan Hydropower Project (84 MW) District Swat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa” costing Rs15.1 billion, “Detailed Design and Construction of Lawi Hydropower Project Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” costing Rs12.2 billion, “Establishment of 48 MW Jagran-II Hydro Electric Power Station (Phase-II), District Neelum in AJK (Revised) (French Loan)” costing Rs7.0 billion and 04 Grid Station located in Balochistan and Punjab were also considered.

These projects will generate about 200 MW electricity after completion. For improving and conserving water resources in the country, nine projects of water sector costing over Rs12.0 billion were considered by CDWP mainly “Bazai Irrigation Project Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa”, “Remodeling of SMB Link Canal and Enhancing Capacity Mailsi Syphon, at Bahawalpur District and “Channelization of Deg Nullah from Muridke Narowal Road to Outfall (Punjab ADP)”. Moreover, CDWP advised the executing agencies to float projects on BoT basis to involve private sector in the development process of the country.

For rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-affected areas, seven development schemes costing Rs5.5 billion were approved.

Source: www.thenews.com.pk

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under pakistan, Projects

Roadblocks for NH-widening in Goa

October 24, 2011

PANAJI: While nationally highways are being added at the rate of 11km-per-day, in Goa the national highways authority of India’s project to widen NH 4-A is yet to take off, a year-and-a-half after it was tendered. In fact, a status update of the project shows it is fast heading towards being re-tendered. The latter is already the fate of Goa’s other national highway-NH 17.

The delays in both projects are courtesy the state government’s demand for flyovers, realignments, toll exemptions for light motor vehicles, and overall delays in handing over the required land. These demands, in fact, led to the cost of widening NH 17, estimated and tendered in 2010 at 3,100 crore, to shoot up by over 806 crore. NHAI sources say the project may be retendered.

Similarly, when IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, Mumbai, was awarded the contract to widen the 65km-long NH 4-A in early 2010, the cost was estimated at 471 crore. Now, additional demands by the state government to construct more flyovers, more underpasses and change the alignment has raised the project cost by 106 crore, sources said. “The work is already awarded and there is no way the NHAI is going to bear such a high additional burden,” sources in the authority told TOI.

Incidentally, the land for widening the highway that connects the state to Karnataka via Ponda has also yet to be handed over to NHAI in both, North and South Goa.

Sources in the land acquisition section of the South Goa collectorate confirmed non-acquisition of land in the district. Clearances from the state wildlife board for the 10km-stretch that falls in deeply forested areas between the Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary are also pending.

The lack of clearances led to the NHAI proposal being sent to the ministry of environment and forests in May 2007, only to be returned without approval. “The project was initiated by NHAI in 2003 and is only 65km long. But it is still dragging,” sources lamented.

From P1

The last nail in the NH 4-A coffin is probably the demand by the state government that non-commercial LMVs should be exempted from toll. “This demand cannot be accepted. Toll policy on national highways is finalized by the central government. This is a BOT (build-own-transfer) project being built under the public-private-partnership model. Toll is the only source of revenue for the contractor. If it is exempted, nobody will want to come to Goa,” said an NHAI source.

Sources in the authority further added that the economic evaluation of the project showed benefits that include reduction in vehicle operation cost, reduction in travel time and reduction in accident cost. Analysis period was taken as 30 years from the date of operation.

The Goa-Belgaum road is considered very important. There is a substantial movement of iron ore on the road. Other necessities like vegetables, fruits, etc, from Karnataka to Goa are also transported via this route. The road witnesses about 50 or 60 accidents every year due to mining traffic. If it is widened, this will stop, sources said.

The NH 17 widening project connecting Patradevi to Polem has long been bogged in controversy and delayed over proposed demolitions along the route in Goa. As reported earlier, the land acquisition procedure for widening NH 17 lapsed in the first week of April. tnn

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under NHAI, Projects

Centre avoids Mayawati, rolls out roads on its own

October 24, 2011

NEW DELHI: With the Mayawati government refusing to play ball with the Centre on road development, the highways ministry is increasingly taking a short-cut. The ministry has been pushing for more projects under the engineering-procurement-construction model, under which it can get to work right away without state support. With elections ahead, it is becoming the road most taken.

The UP government has not yet signed the umbrella state support agreement (SSA) to facilitate highway development work, citing a “conflict of interest” with state highways. Under SSA, the state gives a commitment to maintain the law and order situation and to refrain from constructing any competing road.

NHAI has already invited tenders for pre-qualification for two EPC contracts in Sonia Gandhi’s constituency – Rae Bareli to Banda (140km) costing Rs 525 crore and Rae Bareli to Tanda (165km) costing Rs 692 crore. In these cases, the contractor will have to complete the projects within a stipulated timeframe and will also be responsible for their maintenance for at least one year.

Sources said there was a proposal to develop two more stretches under the same model, considering the slow progress any national highway development work has shown under the Mayawati regime. The NHAI, however, has favoured a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT-annuity) model for these stretches. “This is a tactical move and suits both Congress and NHAI. Since state support is crucial for annuity projects, the blame of any failure to take up the work will go to the state government or the contractor. On the other hand, this suits NHAI since it cannot escape accountability if any EPC contract gets delayed in such a VIP constituency,” said an industry insider.

NHAI has floated a tender for the two-laning project with paved shoulder for Rae Bareli-Jaunpur section of NH-231 (165.5km) on BOT (annuity) mode with an investment of Rs 626 crore. Two more projects will be taken up soon.

Under the new EPC model that is being used for two projects, NHAI will pay the entire amount to the contractor during construction period on a turnkey basis. In the case of BOT (annuity), the contractor raises investment for the project and the government pays back the principal amount with interest in instalments to the contractor.

“Since the SSA has not been signed with UP, we can’t delay the development work of highways in the state. We are hopeful of the state signing the agreement soon or at least extending support for early completion of these projects. We don’t see any reason why the state would not cooperate with the land acquisition process when the Centre is bearing the entire cost,” said a senior NHAI official.

Prior to Kamal Nath’s taking over as highways minister, the Centre used to sign SSA for each individual project. Nath had come out with the umbrella agreement plan to get it signed for all NH projects at one go. But UP had opposed this since it planned to build its own expressways including the Ganga expressway. Citing “conflict of interest”, the state government told the Planning Commission that a parallel NH would wean away traffic from state highways.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under NHAI, Road

Higher qualification bar lowers bid response for UP highway projects

October 24, 2011

New Delhi, Oct 20:

The number of bidders appears to have gone down for two highway development projects in Uttar Pradesh (UP) due to higher qualification and threshold criteria set by NHAI.

A broad indicator of this is the comparison between the number of bidders for these two projects and other projects that have recently been bid out, or are under bidding.

For these two projects, to be implemented on an engineering procurement contract (EPC) model, there are about seven bidders for one project and 10 for the other seeking qualification to be able to submit financial bids.

About 15-50 bidders have qualified to submit financial bids for other highway development projects, for which the earlier qualifying criteria exist.

UP PROJECTS

For developing the 165.5-km stretch between Tanda and Rae Bareilly in UP, the bidders who have applied at the technical qualification stage are HCC, IVRCL, Leighton-Welspun, Isolux, Soma, Alsim Alarko Sanayi and L&T.

To develop the 140-km stretch between Rae Bareilly and Banda, 10 bidders have applied. – GPL-Punj Lloyd, HCC, IVRCL, Galfar, Leighton-Welspun, Isolux, Soma, Alsim Alarko Sanayi, L&T and Gammon.

OTHER PROJECTS

The response is in contrast with other projects to be implemented on build-operate-transfer (BOT) – annuity basis, for which NHAI has invited bids.

This is despite the fact that BOT-annuity projects are usually riskier for a road developer compared to EPC projects. Various factors including project model, time of bidding, geographical location also affect the bid response for projects.

For developing a 289 km stretch on the Jabalpur-Rajmarg Crossing-Bareli-Bhopal section, 14 bidders have technically qualified to submit financial bids.

For developing a 66 km stretch on the Jhalawar-MP/Rajasthan border section in Rajasthan, 52 bidders have qualified.

Similarly, for developing the Dahod-Padhi section in Rajasthan, 49 bidders have qualified to submit financial bids.

In fact, the highway builders lobby – National Highways Builders Federation — which has 70 contractors as its members has represented to the Highways Ministry and Competition Commission of India against various clauses in the new ‘model concession agreement’ for EPC projects.

These clauses limit competition by raising the bar for qualifying norms, NHBF had contested.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under NHAI, Projects